Would looking at a solar eclipse have the same if not less effect on the eyes as looking at the full sun?

Question

I remember learning that a solar ecplise can cause more damage to the eyes then just looking at the sun, but when i asked the teacher to explain why, she refused. I dont want to take her word for it because she is one of the worse teachers possible. Also if it has a worse effect on the eyes, please explain why. Thanks

Answer 1

Indeed, relatively speaking, the blinding effect of looking at the sun during a partial eclipse is slightly lower than looking at the full sun. However, the difference is negligible. Even the "diamond ring" phase of a total eclipse can cause serious damage to your eyes very quickly...and that's just a fraction of a percent of the disk showing.

The real issue is that folks normally don't look at the sun, whereas during an eclipse people are tempted to try. Your teacher has simply accepted the myth...no point in arguing about it. I tried the same thing in 9th grade and all I got was made fun of by my classmates who were also too stupid to know the truth.

The other issue is that it may not be wise to tempt the less intelligent among us to question the teacher's sanity and look directly at the eclipse anyway. This is one time when I'd say the myth is probably a good thing to save the sight of stupid people.

Next day edit: You probably don't need me to tell you, but Yellow Dart (answer #4) is a complete idiot...no bloody wonder he burned his retina. Nobody can look at the sun for "THREE MINUTES" and not be totally friggin' blind!!! Three seconds I might believe. None of the people citing the myth as fact can show a source other than simply repeating the myth.

Answer 2

When you try to look at the sun under ordinary conditions, your body protects your eyes by giving you pain so you look away. During an eclipse, looking at the sun is not painful, but the dangerous, blinding, ultra-violet rays are still there. To be triply safe during a solar eclipse, use approved eclipse glasses that block the ultra-violet, use only one eye, and don't stare. You can also view a solar eclipse safely by looking at an image of it cast on a screen by a telescope, binoculars, or a pinhole camera. An eclipse that blinds a pregnant woman will have no effect on the baby. The blindness is purely the effect of ultra-violet rays destroying the retina of the viewer. The baby may feel the effects of the distress the woman undergoes afterwards. Looking at a sun close to the horizon is less dangerous than looking at one overhead. Near the horizon the sun's rays pass through much more atmosphere than when overhead, and it's the atmosphere that removes ultra-violet.

Answer 3

It is worse, because your eyes are trying to adjust for the darker shading of the moon. They end up letting more light in, and thus, causing more damage to the retina. A typical person can stare at the sun for three minutes without any permanent damage to the retina, although I wouldn't recommend doing this. However, when an eclipse is nearing totality, your pupils are much wider, and are letting in the full amount of the radiation from that tiny sliver of sun. Your eye can burn in less than 15 seconds. I learned this the hard way when I was a kid. I now have a solar burn on my right eye. I can't read things directly if I close my left eye.

Answer 4

It is worse because when the Sun is ALMOST totally eclipsed, it you can look at it without feeling the pain you would feel when trying to look directly at the Sun on a regular day. But that little sliver of light is just as bright as the whole Sun, at the one little spot on your retina where it gets focused, and that can damage your eye without you feeling it. I heard a story about a child that was warned not to look at the eclipse without protection, but he looked anyway. At first there was no problem, but over the next few days he gradually lost most of his sight from the damage on that day.

Answer 5

It's not worse, it's just that most people can't look right at the sun on a normal day. So people can look longer at an eclipse, hence more damage.